Sunday, January 16, 2011

Strangers in the Night

Andy and I are strangers in the night. Not by choice, mind you. And not because we want to be strangers. But because we have a little girl, that WILL NOT go to sleep easily.

This weekend has been the worst that we've had it in a long time. Back up...five months old, London's pediatrician recommended we do CIO (Cry It Out). I freaked, as I'm sure you know, because I don't BELIEVE in CIO. It's not for me. I don't want my little precious bundle of joy laying in her crib, realizing that mommy and daddy are NOT coming to soothe her, and learning that she just has to go it alone. I don't want to see the fear cross her face when we try to lay her down and she realizes that soon we will walk out of that room, for what seems like forever to her. I DON'T. But, under encouragement from everyone, including family and friends, Andy and I decided to give it a go. And we did, for three months. London is eight months now. The first week was hell. The second week was easier, and by the end of the first month, we had a little girl that would sleep through the night like a trooper. But she STILL whined when we tried to put her to bed. And now she screams when we get near her crib! Ummm...not a happy baby. In fact, even worse than a happy baby. A very pissed off baby! However, it did affect her mood during the day. It actually gave us a happier baby...but she wouldn't nap. UGH. Well, one thing at a time.

Fast forward to Christmas. A few days after Christmas, London began to get whinier when we tried to put her to bed. She would wail loudly. It broke my heart. And it only continued. And now, we are into full blown screaming. This week has been the worst of them all. Thursday night, she actually went to bed with very minimal crying at all. Friday night was not as good, but still not half as bad as it has been. Saturday night...pure hell! Our baby girl has a cold, and she's teething, and this makes for a bad combination at bedtime. She screamed when putting her to bed. OK, she's cranky because she's tired and doesn't feel good. So I held her and rocked her, and she finally went to sleep in my arms, and I laid her down and World War III broke out! About thirty minutes later, she was out for the count. This was 9:30. At 12:00 she was back up, for 45 minutes before Andy came and woke me to nurse her. Then she fell asleep in the bed with me, but immediately woke up when we tried to transition her to her own bed. We battled her until 2:00 when she finally went to sleep. But she was back up at 4:00. Andy took over again at 6. Sheesh! No nap today either. Grrrrr.

Tonight took an hour. And LOTS of crying. :-( Isn't this what I said I don't want to do???

This is why Andy and I are strangers in the night. And day too. We sleep in shifts. We eat in shifts. We clean in shifts. We play in shifts. We don't do anything together anymore really. I know it gets better, but I just will whine a little until then. lol

I'm at my very wits end. I purchased "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" book on Friday. But I haven't had the chance to read it. I so hope it helps!!!

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